Holistic Therapy for horses, dogs and cats

Alternative medicine is not just a method of healing for humans. Horses, dogs and cats are some of our animal friends that can benefit from holistic healing. There are therapists all over the world that are dedicating their practices to assisting the healing of animals.

One Canadian therapist named Sidonia McIntyre travels around her country giving massage and Craniosacral treatments to horses as well as teaching others how to apply these helpful techniques. Observers can watch her communicate with the horses, massaging with hands and elbows and performing a “tail pulling” method which relieves fascial and muscular tension in the sacral and pelvic area. The horses work with her and seem to love receiving the therapy.

In Long Island, NY, Dr. Lisa Donato runs Veterinary Acupuncture & Healing Arts, PLLC that treats dogs and cats with acupuncture, Chinese herbal medicine, Tui Na Massage, chiropractic, homotoxology, Craniosacral Therapy and Western herbal medicine. Her philosophy is “Holistic Veterinary Medicine encompasses any diagnostic or treatment modality that looks at the patient as a whole. This takes into account the mind, body and spirit of the patient (yes, our animal companions have a spirit), the human guardians and family, his environment and diet.” This is one of many holistic animal clinics successfully operating across the country.

There are also blogs that address holistic care for our beloved friends with articles on various treatments, tutorials on animal massage and interviews with doctors and therapists that have dedicated their lives to helping animals. One blog in particular is www.yourholisticdog.com. Cherise Jacques is a therapist featured on the site that performs Reike, CranioSacral Therapy and SomatoEmotional Release on dogs and horses. She has treated dogs with ADHD, aggression and seizures, as well as horses with lameness, gait issues, and behavior changes due to trauma. She became interested in CranioSacral Therapy because it successfully helped with her own recovery from multiple head injuries. She became a therapist and began to apply it to her love of animals (she still works on humans, too).

Holistic healing is wonderful and effective for many species on our beautiful planet!

Trisha Schmalhofer, CranioSacral and Licensed Massage Therapist

What is myofascial release?

Web of Fascia

Myofascial release is a type of body work that uses varying forms of pressure to work through pain. Painproclinics.com states that ‘Myo’ simply means muscle and ‘fascia’ is a connective tissue that forms a matrix or web, much like a spider web, that interpenetrates the extra cellular matrix that surrounds muscles, bones, organs, nerves, blood vessels, and other body structures. Fascia is an uninterrupted, three-dimensional web of connective tissue that extends from head to toe, front to back, and interior to exterior.

Through stress, injury, poor nutrition, postural imbalances, overworked muscles, and repetitive activities your myofascial matrix can become contracted or stretched, thicken, become congested and inflamed, and adhere to surrounding structures such as muscles, bones, nerves, and organs.

The therapist trained in Myofascial Release uses his or her hands to evaluate the texture, tightness and movement of muscles, fascia, tendons, ligaments and nerves. Abnormal tissues are treated by combining precisely directed tension with very specific patient movements.

Scientists are starting to look more closely at fascia and hypothesize that it’s more than just encasing. They found that the fascia is alive with nerves, that abnormalities in it may be linked to conditions like back pain and fibromyalgia, and that it plays a key role in the body’s potential for flexibility and range of motion. Myofascial release is an important tool that Licensed Massage therapists can use to bring relief to their client.

Trisha Schmalhofer, Licensed Massage Therapist